News and Opinion

The door “is not shut” on holidays abroad this summer and more will be known from government scientists in the next few weeks, the health secretary has said. As outdoor gatherings and sport resumes across England, Matt Hancock said international travel had not been ruled out, though the priority was enabling people in the UK to […]

The Conservatives will warn supporters that Labour could experience a “post-Corbyn bounce” in the May elections. Party co-chairman Amanda Milling will launch its campaign on Saturday, calling on voters to choose the Tories to help “build back better from the pandemic”. Addressing the Conservatives’ virtual spring forum, the MP will warn of a tough fight […]

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross is seeking urgent talks with the leaders of the other pro-UK parties, calling on them to unite and work together to stop pro-independence parties winning a majority at Holyrood. Ross said the action was needed after Alex Salmond was unveiled as the leader of the new Alba Party – which […]

Calls have intensified for an inquiry into David Cameron’s involvement with a scandal-hit banker after allegations surfaced that Lex Greensill was given privileged access to Whitehall departments. An investigation by the Sunday Times alleged that Greensill enriched himself through a government-backed loan scheme he designed after the then prime minister gave him access to 11 […]

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said vaccine passports would be “the last straw” for struggling pubs and force bar staff into a “bitter civil liberties war” with customers. Conservative backbenchers, publicans and some scientists have raised concerns over the possible introduction of coronavirus health certificates as England’s lockdown is eased. Ministers are studying their potential […]

Boris Johnson’s racial disparities commission is reportedly poised to recommend that the term BAME should no longer be used by public bodies and companies. The Telegraph reported that scrapping the acronym – standing for black, Asian and minority ethnic – is a key proposal in a report to be published this week by the Commission […]

TIM WALKER on being charmed by Lord Delfont. Lord Delfont has enjoyed something of a career renaissance in recent years, albeit posthumously. Sir Michael Gambon played the great showbusiness impresario as a thoroughly decent man in the film Judy – the Judy Garland biopic that had Renée Zellweger in the title role – and, the year before […]

Infection rates are on the rise in Germany – but the big debate in the country right now is about Easter holidays. I have a confession: I’m writing this column on a plane from Palma de Mallorca back to Germany, ready to join the country’s heated debate about… Mallorca. The island’s tourist industry is ready to […]

Sunderland’s indomitable party spirit is to be found in its exuberant 1990s girl band, and its very own drug-addled rave subculture. The atmosphere at the Blue Monkey club was almost physically tangible. The dancefloor filled with drug-fuelled revellers, lights and lasers roiling while ultra-high energy hardcore pumped out of the speakers, this old bingo hall on Sunderland’s […]

In the latest exclusive serialisation of his diaries, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL describes in heart-wrenching detail his son Calum’s battle with alcoholism, and the memories it prompted of his own similar ordeal. There are plenty of low points in this new volume of diaries, many of them very personal, and very difficult for both Fiona and me, namely […]

PETER TRUDGILL on whether Scots should be considered a language or not. My column of a few weeks ago, about how the Swiss are encouraged to learn their country’s various languages – and how something similar here might benefit the UK – annoyed reader Bill Cooper, who wrote to The New European to say so. His letter was published […]

It may not seem at the top of voters’ concerns but electoral reform offers a chance to tackle so many of the UK’s problems. Labour must seize it now, says MP Ruth Cadbury. In late September 2017, instead of heading to Liverpool for Labour’s annual conference, I was in Auckland getting voters out to the polls. Playing […]

The novelist considers the Japanese appreciation of all that is both imperfect and impermanent in the works of man and nature One of them is about twelve inches by eight, is entirely covered by a patina that ranges from light tan to black, and has a bottom dimpled and hummocked by having been bashed repeatedly […]

The new film The United States vs Billie Holiday is part of a canonisation the singer would have disliked, says Bonnie Greer There are a few artists who we choose to journey to Calvary with us. One of them is an African American woman born Eleanora Fagan, who changed her name to Billie Holiday. That […]

Green Party co-leader Annalena Baerbock is emerging as a serious contender in the contest to succeed Angela Merkel. Towards the end of this year Europe may well have its first Green head of government – a German, a woman, a former youth elite trampolinist. Annalena Baerbock: remember the name, because she is set to become […]

A lobbying watchdog has concluded that David Cameron’s activities “do not fall within the criteria” that requires registration on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists. The Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists said that the former prime minister was an employee at Greensill and so not required to register, following an investigation into whether he […]

The government is seeking a “lessons learnt analyst” to help Test and Trace learnt from mistakes made during coronavirus pandemic.  The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has posted a vacancy a the year-long “senior executive officer” role, which will be based in the Joint Biosecurity Centre and be paid £45,000. The job advert for the post, […]

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has announced he is setting up a new political party to contest May’s Scottish parliament election. Salmond will stand in the North East region and lead the Alba Party, which will field at least four candidates in the regional lists. Chris McEleny, an SNP councillor in Inverclyde, has resigned […]

Flags have dominated the news agenda in recent weeks as debates about national identity rumble on. If you’ve only been casually checking into the news – and after the few years we have all had, who could blame you? – you might be forgiven for thinking that the world is suddenly quiet. What other possible reason […]

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has announced he is setting up a new political party to run in the Scottish Parliament elections in May. Salmond made the announcement during a public statement on Friday afternoon. The Alba Party is expected to field at least four candidates in each regional list at this May’s elections. It […]

Talks are to be held with Brussels over post-Brexit trade difficulties between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, cabinet office minister Lord Frost has said. The Tory frontbencher told peers at his first dedicated question time in the Lords, that a “specialised committee” would meet on Friday March 26, to consider “all the issues” related to implementing […]

The loss of access to EU policing data has been branded concerning by peers, who fear new law enforcement arrangements put in place after Brexit are “complex” and “untested”. The Lords EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee examined security provisions in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) introduced after the UK left the EU, warning “significant […]

Boris Johnson has revealed he has already booked a visit to the pub for when restrictions ease but suggested he might wait for a haircut, despite saying he “badly” needed one. The prime minister echoed the thoughts of the nation as he admitted a trip to the hairdressers was overdue, with salons and barbers forced […]

Making the battle against Covid tribal will have tragic consequences. If relations between Britain and the EU before Brexit was finalised were frosty and since then have been distant, then in recent weeks they have become downright ugly. The cause, of course, has been the ongoing row over the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed and deployed here – and derided and […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has called for firms to reopen their offices as he declared the traditional workplace superior to remote working. Companies across the UK are looking at how to tackle the issue of remote versus office working once lockdown ends, with many backing a hybrid model. But Sunak has touted the benefits of the […]

Consultants Deloitte is being paid to help ministers draft parliamentary answers to defend the Test and Trace programme. The responsibility forms part of many under the £323million worth of work Deloitte was drafted to do for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the National Testing Programme. Four different contracts show that Test […]

The European Commission president has warned AstraZeneca that it must “honour” its vaccine contract with the bloc before exporting doses elsewhere in the world. Ursula von der Leyen urged “transparency” from other countries, but did not confirm if the EU would bring in tougher export restrictions on coronavirus jabs, amid a row over supplies with […]

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang. Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union slapped sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in the country’s autonomous north-west […]